It’s a bit awkward when the person expected to teach says something utterly… well, let’s just say “uninformed.” And it can be touchy to bring up the fact that a teacher is wrong. Sometimes, you just have to let things go…
This piece is based on an AskReddit thread. Link on the last page.
1. A girl in class asked to use the bathroom during a test. The teacher said no. She said she was on her period. The teacher then said “prove it. Bring me the wrapper (of the tampon).”
He was fired for this.
Arerest59
2. Went to catholic school, had a nun for sex ed (I mean, what were they thinking?) class in…6th grade?… Was told if we masturbate too often we’ll run out of semen, as the body doesn’t produce more, we’re born with the amount we have for life…I’ll admit, it’s curbed my want to do it…for about 2 days, then I figured it’s worth the risk.
ElefantPharts
3. I had a teacher who didn’t like students leaving his class to use the toilet. We were aged 16-18 at the time and every time a girl asked to leave he’d say: “Do you really need to go? … will there be a puddle on the floor if I don’t let you.”
Well there will… but it won’t be what he’s thinking…
argonscandium
4. I was 16 and told by my substitute science teacher that it is impossible for fraternal twins to be boy/girl. I am a fraternal twin girl with a twin brother.
The teacher was not convinced and I was sent out of class for causing a disruption.
HighAsARose
5. A friend’s world history teacher told his class that Confucius once remarked “It is wasteful to try to kill a fly with a cannon or a bullet.” Someone mentioned that Confucius lived thousands of years before gunpowder was invented, in response to which the teacher argued he was right for some time.
The next day he told the class “Even though he wasn’t right, they shouldn’t have questioned him because he has authority and experience.”
He is not teaching at our school next year.
PotatoSlapper
6. My biology teacher was asking us for examples of extinct animals. One person said dragons, and she agreed with him. I was later sent out of class due to attempting to contradict her.
MrCamman69
7. Teacher: Ok class, today we are going to learn about President Roosevelt!
Me: Which one?
Teacher:…President Roosevelt.
Me: I’m just asking because there were two.
Teacher: No, there was only one president Roosevelt.
Me: Well, if I recall correctly, there was Theodore, then Franklin.
Teacher: No, there was only one (rolls her eyes, gets this annoyed look on her face and starts going through her “president” flashcards).
Teacher: (Suddenly looks shocked but also even more annoyed) Hmm I guess you’re right; anyway…
FloralBison
8. In grade 6 we were doing space topics for a week or so IN SCIENCE CLASS. I asked my teacher why the moon was so bright at night, she said “It’s because it’s a star up close…”
eversowe
9. “Snakes regurgitate their waste through their mouth, they don’t have any other holes.”
I’ve had pet snakes since I was 5, I knew she was wrong. Had to get a book to prove her wrong. She gave me detention for arguing with her.
I took the matter to the headmaster. He agreed she was an idiot and removed the detention. She was fired 2 months later. She marked students down for submitting work that contradicted her religion.
DistilledHatred
10. I had a high school teacher tell the class that if we all sent a letter to Congress saying we were being taxed without representation, we would not have to pay taxes. She was not joking. She taught economics, American history, and civics.
Sporkicide
11. “If you turn two pages at a time, you can read a book faster.” ‘If you find a word you don’t know, just replace it with the word ‘elephant’, and keep reading.” Seriously. Grade 4 and 5.
qosj
12. I knew a teacher that hated Germans. So at the start of a school year she would have students do a “family background” project. After the projects were turned in, she would be mean and unfair to the students with German backgrounds.
Sir_Rowan_of_Ithor
13. I was making small talk with a teacher from my high school that was chaperoning me in an after school activity. I asked her where she went to high school. After she told me, she asked me where I went to high school.
EnemySoil
14. In middle school I had an argument not only with my science teacher, but my whole class, that a mile was in fact longer than a kilometer. They all were telling me I was dumb and didn’t know anything.
Evilpuppydog
15. I was writing spelling sentences in 2nd grade. For the word “practice”, I believe, I wrote “I practiced karate in the dojo.” My teacher would not accept that Dojo was a word. She thought I meant dog. Super Mario RPG taught me that word.
Thenobel1
16. Not me, but one of my younger brothers. In 4th grade, he had a teacher that was new to the district. I had helped him with his math homework, which was simple multiplication (note that I am 5 years older and was a year ahead in math, so 9th grader taking 10th grade math).
He comes back with his graded paper a couple days later with a few of the problems marked wrong. She had marked 0xn=0 as right, but nx0=0 as wrong. He tried to tell her she had erroneously marked them wrong. She says, no, he had the wrong answers. He asked how. She proceeds to tell him that “Zero times a number is zero, but a number times zero is the number.”
Even after my mom sent in a note, she refused to admit that she was wrong and never changed his, and I assume everyone else’s, grade.
domino43
16. Not me, but one of my younger brothers. In 4th grade, he had a teacher that was new to the district. I had helped him with his math homework, which was simple multiplication (note that I am 5 years older and was a year ahead in math, so 9th grader taking 10th grade math).
He comes back with his graded paper a couple days later with a few of the problems marked wrong. She had marked 0xn=0 as right, but nx0=0 as wrong. He tried to tell her she had erroneously marked them wrong. She says, no, he had the wrong answers. He asked how. She proceeds to tell him that “Zero times a number is zero, but a number times zero is the number.”
Even after my mom sent in a note, she refused to admit that she was wrong and never changed his, and I assume everyone else’s, grade.
domino43
17. Once a math teacher was really offended with my notebook with a picture of a monkey on the cover. We all gave our notebooks to her so she can grade our homework and later she called me up and told me to change my notebook since it has a monkey on the cover and what is she supposed to think.
i-am-a-rock
18. Guidance counselor: “you won’t even get accepted to that school and even if you did you’ll never graduate.”
Thankfully I did both without his “optimistic nudge”. When I was young I did not realize as much that losers walk in all professions of this life.
onetimerone
19. An English teacher once instructed me to capitalize all pronouns after commas.
TheExcelerator
20. In English classs we were reading a text about the Northern US, and the text mentioned mountain lions. That made my teacher remark that this made no sense as there are no lions in America. When the rest of the class chimed in, I said that a mountain lion is a cougar.
To this my teacher replied that cougars aren’t lions and that I didn’t know what I was talking about. So take your pick.
spirito_santo
21. In 3rd grade I wrote a story about a dog named Ferdie, which was short for Ferdinand. I never explicitly pointed out the nickname relationship in the story, and everywhere the dog’s name appeared it was marked as a spelling error, resulting in a C+ overall grade.
I was confused and approached my teacher to ask what was going on, and she said that I had misspelled ‘Freddie’. I said no, it’s Ferdie, short for Ferdinand. She said, oh, okay let me fix that, took the paper, crossed out the C+ and wrote as big as you please, “F, for lying!”
Long story short, this event pushed me to math and science where I could prove that I was right.
EngineerBoy00
22. Year 10 (so I was 15), put in a group with the two “best friends” of the class who decide that, instead of discussing the topic they just talk about random stuff (sports and crap).
Teacher sees me doing nothing, comes over, tells me I should be doing something.
I say “they aren’t doing anything either, they’re just talking about personal stuff.”
She replies “yeah but at least they LOOK like they’re doing something.”
So I ask her “…so you don’t care what we do, as long as we ‘look’ like we are?”
She hesitates and says “Well… yeah.”
And that was the day I lost faith in the educational system.
MonkeyDJinbeTheClown
23. Sixth grade and our teacher has us read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. She then asks the class which road we would take. Raise your hand if you would take the path not taken. Everyone raises their hand except me.
And who would take the road more travelled? I raise my hand, all alone. Im clearly the only one seeing the irony in this.
I really wish I was making this next part up but Im honestly not that funny. This is an exact quote of what she said next. I remember it to this day because it is by far the dumbest thing anyone has ever said to me: Why cant you just take the road less travelled like everyone else?
AlpStranger
24. “Women are triple in numbers compared to men, so polygamy is good and should be mandatory.” – Quote from my high school teacher who I side-eyed ever since.
aalleepph
25. I was marked incorrect on a spelling test for the word ‘colour’. My teacher told everyone it was supposed to be ‘color’, and I put my hand up and said that is in America not Australia. She said I had it backwards and only Americans use the letter ‘u’ in words like colour and humour.
I argued and so she told me to look it up in a dictionary and see for myself. When I showed her the dictionary saying ‘colour’, she proceeded to tell me the dictionary was obviously American.
instinctivechopstick
26. I had a religion teacher tell me my parents could not love me as much as God because God loves unconditionally.
I then began to state all the conditions God has for his love. I got kicked out of class.
Bobsburgers02
27. Math teacher – apparently “no one is able to add more than 3 numbers in their head, you are cheating”. Failed me for that test since I just answered all the questions (3+7-7+1+2 = 6) without working anything out. Had to bring the Principal in to sit beside me and watch me take the test.
Took another test, aced it – again. Principal watching, so they couldn’t accuse me of cheating again. Was still suspended for “arguing with a teacher” since I felt that learning how to be efficient and correct was more important than the amount of pencil marks on my paper.
CripzyChiken
28. Sophomore year of high school biology class. 75% our class got an answer “wrong” on a multiple choice test. The question was basically define photosynthesis. When we opened up our books and read out loud the books’ definition of photosynthesis and how it matched our answer exactly word for word the teacher replied, “Your answer is right, but my answer is righter.” He was 100% dead serious.
termderd
29. “Do your English assignment or you will never learn English and can never travel to England! Don’t you want to see England some day?”
kjersith
30. Teacher (enraged): NATASHA!! I’VE BEEN CALLING YOU ALL THE WAY DOWN THE CORRIDOR!!! WHY DIDN’T YOU ANSWER ME?!?!?!
Me: ………….. My name isnt Natasha……
GeeGeeGeek
31. Do as I do not as I say (he misspoke) as he left the classroom after ten minutes.
The class, eager to disobey, fled his classroom and sat in the corner of the field until a delegation of teachers came and shouted at us until we got up.
Calamity_Payne
32. When asked in a sophomore high school science class where science research was carried out, I answered in Universities and …. before I could finish, I was told that I was entirely wrong and that all scientific research is conducted in secret government labs.
Which was interesting to learn when both your parents are professors with several science PHDs.
Wheres_that_to
33. Me: My friends can trace their ancestors back to the Mayflower!
Teacher:So? Everybody’s ancestors go back to the Mayflower.
Frantic_Mantid
34. “Did you learned something?”
We’re in Southeast Asia. She’s an English teacher. She keeps bragging about her Master’s Degree and yet she doesn’t have a good grasp of grammar. Her students are obviously better at English than her.
boompanes
35. My primary school teacher said World War One ended in 1922. I corrected her with all the confidence an 8 year old could muster but was as effective at changing her mind as a call for armistice.
OriginalVillageIdiot
36. Not so much said, but what he did over 5 years. From grade 1-5 we had a Science teacher who I’m pretty sure knew exactly 0 things about Science, but everything there was to know about lines. For 5 years, instead of learning basic Science facts, we learnt how to draw lines in our books. Every lesson. For 5 years. Not any different lines either, the same old lines – one on the top, one on the left side, and one down the bottom.
COUNTRYxWARRIOR
37. I had to correct my History teacher on his lack of understanding regarding the time zones. Had to break down how if the sun rose in the east and set in the west it would be later on the east coast than the west. He eventually realized I was correct and was not too pleased.
PoonTunes429
38. I told her that I don’t believe in God, and she asked me then how come there are sunrises?
DragonBall2121
39. One of our classmates brought his pet duckling in our class and it kept on quacking. Other classmates started laughing and quacking also. The teacher didn’t know that there was an actual duck and thought that the class was just making fun of her. She said enough no more quacking to which the class obliged. Suddenly amidst the silence the duck released a quack and the class lost it. The teacher then called the shortest boy to the front of the class and spanked him because she thought he made that quack.
sizzlorr26
40. Teacher: “can’t you all read statistics. it said 20% of the workers were members of the Nazi Party.”
Student: “no, that doesn’t make sense. that would be over 10 million. the Nazis didn’t have so many members, it’s in the statistic. it means 20% of the Nazi members were workers.”
Teacher: “oh you’re right! 20% of the workers were in the party.”
Student: “no, 20% of the party members were workers.”
Teacher: “that’s the same.”
poursome80sonme